R.I. bill would make gun owners register with police

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Gun owners would have to register their firearms with local police under legislation pending in the General Assembly. The bill would require firearm owners to provide their name, address, signature, and fingerprints and pay a $100-per-firearm registration fee. Several lawmakers have called for tighter gun rules following December’s school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 first-graders and six educators were killed. But gun rights supporters warn that the legislation introduced this month in Rhode Island would go too far. Representative Doreen Costa, a North Kingstown Republican, said Tuesday that gun owners should not have to pay $100 per firearm to register them with local authorities when they already have to undergo background checks to acquire a firearm.